26 January 2012

this past august i discovered that i have disc goings-on in my neck. i shall spare you the details, save this one: the accoutrement for a healthy spine are ugly.

it recently occurred to me that though i could not change my circumstances, i could change the ugly. & so i did.

i made a case for the ugly cervical pillow. (excuse the wrinkles, i do not like to iron.)

i then made a rice pillow (to be kept in the freezer) to replace the ugly cold-packs.

there are also two neck rolls that need prettyfication (real word), but those will have to wait. oh! the vintage loveliness in the first photo is meant to one of these days trim the ugly cervical pillow's case.

25 January 2012

today i found the most fabulous book that ever there was - there was an old lady who swallowed a fly, by jeremy holmes. oh my one & only reader, you must see this in person to truly appreciate it. click here, then click on views to see what i mean. ack!

i cannot believe i had not seen this book before now, nor even heard of the illustrator. ooh! & when i was googling the book, to get the link for you, i found the trailer for it. enjoy!

19 January 2012

this post really should be on my hogwarts homeschool blog, but i am not quite ready to dust over there just yet. soon, i promise.

at the start of autumn, we began a new version of herbology. this time around it's just thehobbit & minisoap, with auntiesoap leading the class. in addition to a new teacher, a lot more is expected of them - they are both teens now, after all.

each month professor mudd, as she is calling herself, teaches them about one herb: folklore, medicinal properties, & culinary uses. the rest of the month is spent foraging, cooking, creating, drawing, writing papers, & so on. he is enjoying the increase in work more than i thought he would.

january's herb is chickweed. thehobbit took the above photo when they went foraging in auntiesoaps' neighborhood. once back at her home they set about making a healing salve. (i shall edit this to include instructions for making your own soon. thehobbit forgot his herbology folder there. again.)

photo :: property of thehobbit

for the jar's label he used this free download. scroll down to find the blank version. finally! a use for thehobbit's freakytiny printing.

some notes on his label:

he forgot to include beeswax in the list of ingredients.

whilst it can be used to heal a myriad of woes, it cannot be used on any med problem. that is a slight exaggeration ;)edited to add :: prof. mudd informed thehobbit yesterday to not use salves containing comfrey on deep cuts or puncture wounds.

17 January 2012

we had lunch at my favorite restaurant yesterday. in the past i would go there regularly, but i believe this is only our second visit since elfling came along. wow. i had not even realized that until just now. anyway -

the waitress gave elfling a rigged set of chopsticks to use. (they fold the wrapper, stick it between the sticks, & hold it together with a rubberband. it is fabulous!) as i was showing him how to use it, manlyman commented that he was only two, & would not be able to use chopsticks.

instead of explaining how toddlers can do much more than most people think they are able; which i was about to do; i asked him what he thought they used in asian countries. usually i opt for the hermione (insufferable know-it-all) approach, so surprised us both with my reply.

after only a few attempts, he mastered the rigged chah-spicks, as he called them. of course he did, because toddlers can do vastly more than people think they can.

um, i mean - just like children in asian countries do.

:)

~peace.

ps :: hey doc! thought of you when we were there. hope you are feeling well.

this list does not include the books that thehobbit asked me to store in the garage, nor the eleventy billion books on dragons. still, it is quite enough to get you started on your own collection, should you be of a mind.

some things to note:
a) i did not append the authors, but you can find that information on each book's amazon page - just click on a title in the list.
2)many of my books were found at thrift shops & used book shops over the years. that said, i do not know if any of the prices quoted on amazon are reasonable.

are there any books on magical creatures that you would like to recommend? i am sure i can find room for a few more on my shelf ;)

12 January 2012

this week's thursday things is about books for kids: old ones, strange ones, & just plain creepy ones. in other words - wonderful ones.

i spotted the utter zoo alphabeton a thrift shop's shelf, moments before thehobbit did. a better parent would have stood back, knowing that her son, her firstling, was about to reach for the book. i, am not that parent. i snatched that book so quickly, that you could hear the woosh! as i brought it to my chest to be rocked in my loving embrace.

mine.

mine!

wonderfully mine.

don't judge me too harshly, i told him that he was allowed to borrow it whenever he liked. so long as he wears white gloves. & he does not breathe on it.

now that you are suitably horrified by my parenting, here are two blogs that you will adore:

* vintage kids' books my kid loves is sublime. i stumbled upon her blog early last year, & immediately liked her page on facebook. that is how i keep up with blogs these days, by the way, it's much easier for me than subscribing. anyway, give her blog a look-see; i know you'll enjoy it.

* curious pages has the best tag line: recommended inappropriate books for kids. yes, please! i have not had time to go through the archives on this blog yet, as i only discovered it last week. from what i have seen however, the blog is packed with lovely oddness. i did not even know of this amazing book, until i saw it on curious pages.

that is all today. my not-so-vintage-but-ever-so-wonderfully-odd children are both still swimming in pestilence's waters. i suppose i should stop ignoring them ;)

10 January 2012

this is one of the vintage books we gave elfling for xmas. i had been looking for a book of cars for him, but everything i found was ever so ugly.

when i spotted this at a used book store i may have actually squealed. the illustrations are sweet & simple, & not one car pictured has a face. do not get me started on that rant.

that is one funky van! i know it is supposed to be bicentennial, but it reminds me of a circus. must be the stripes.

this illustration has to be my favorite. manlyman is planning to get a mini. this is sort of what i imagine he'll look like driving it.

i was going to put it away for when he is older, because he is brutal to books, but i didn't. after all, it isn't as if this book is rare, or cost a lot of money; i just wanted it kept pristine because i think it is so wonderful. i eventually realized that if that was the most important issue then i should keep the book for myself. but if i truly wanted elfling to have it, i needed to just let him have it.

hopefully he'll learn to be more gentle with books, until then i shall just focus on not hyperventilating each time i see him reach for this particular one.

09 January 2012

has your year been lovely thus far? mine started off that way, then pestilence hit. nothing dreadful, it has just kept us home, missing out on a few outings & parties we had been looking forward to.

most of yesterday was spent in bed, reading with fifi le fire. i love fifi, & do not know how i managed without her for all these years. but that is a chat for another day.

i am off to attempt a nap with elfling. have a great one, do!

~peace.

ps :: the photo is unrelated to today's babble. this pestilence hasn't had us spending a large amount of time in the bathroom, i just stumbled across it in my archives. oldies may recognize it from thehobbit's old borrowers' house. i wish my bathroom was that clean. & large.